, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c, december 6, 2012. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable tom udall, a senator from the state of new mexico, to perform the duties f the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: following leader remarks, which will be in a period of morning business until 11:45 today. senators will be permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. we would like that time to be for speeches for our retiring senators. at 11:45, the senate will move to consider the nominations of walker and berg, judges. we expect only two roll call votes since we hope the berg nomination will be confirmed by voice. mr. president, we democrats have been saying for more than four months, it's time for the thousands pass a middle-